Citation and Style Guides: Style Guides, Help Sheets, Formatting Papers

• To show your reader you've done proper research by listing sources you have used to get your information
• To give proper credit to the authors whose ideas you’re quoting or paraphrasing
• So your readers can go back and find where you got your ideas, quotes, etc.
• They are academically required
• To protect you from plagiarism!
• Shows that you are an ethical user and producer of information
• Shows that you've read and understand the content you are referencing
• Shows the amount of research you've done
• Shows that your information is reliable and accurate
• Strengthens your work by demonstrating outside support to your ideas

There is a free digital version of this book online as well

The Chicago Manual of Style Online - Number one authoritative resource for Chicago writing style

The MLA Style Center - Authorized Web site devoted on MLA style

The APA Style Website - Authorized information derived from the APA Publication Manual

OWL (Online Writing Lab), Purdue University - The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University is a well established writing resource for guidance in grammar, citation formatting, research strategies, ESL resources, subject-specific writing, and more

The Writing Center at UN at Chapel Hill - A large assortment of online handouts with writing tools and tips